During the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah, they described the lead-up to their 2018 wedding and how they knew, even then, that their wedding was going to be a huge global event. Harry and Meghan described how they wanted to just do a private wedding service just for them before the actual wedding, so they asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to come by and they said their vows and felt like they got their private moment. What was a sweet story about Harry & Meghan wanting a different memory in which they shared their vows before the actual wedding has become one of the centerpieces of an unhinged series of articles in the British media. The British media believes if they can somehow fact-check this story and prove that Meghan and Harry were “lying” about “getting married before the wedding,” then somehow H&M can both be written off as liars. It’s insane. And it keeps getting crazier:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage certificate contradicts the Duchess of Sussex’s claim that they secretly tied the knot in their backyard days before their lavish public exchange of vows, according to a report. During her bombshell TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle said she and Harry had actually gotten hitched three days before their highly publicized ceremony in 2018. But the document The Sun obtained from the General Registrar’s Office confirms that the nuptials did take place on May 19 that year at Windsor Castle.

The news outlet also reported that the official who drew up the license for the couple’s wedding dismissed Markle’s claim.

“I’m sorry, but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed. They did not marry three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury,” Stephen Borton, former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, told The Sun. “What I suspect they did was exchange some simple vows they had perhaps written themselves, and which is fashionable, and said that in front of the Archbishop — or, and more likely, it was a simple rehearsal,” Borton added.

During the sit-down with Oprah, Markle said: “You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that. The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.” She said she and Harry called the Archbishop, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, and asked him to marry them privately at their home in Nottingham Cottage. “Just the three of us,” the prince chimed in.

Borton threw cold water on their claim. “They couldn’t have got married in the grounds of Nottingham Cottage as it is not an authorized venue and there were not enough witnesses present. You cannot be married with just three people. It’s not a valid ceremony,” he told The Sun. “Any certificate she may have of her vows on the wall is not an official wedding certificate,” he continued. “The wedding itself took place at St. George’s Chapel under the conditions stipulated by the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which have been recently amended. In order for them to be married a special license was drawn up and the wording from Her Majesty the Queen authorizing the wedding and the official venue was recorded.”

[From Page Six]

No, really, the British media keeps doing this. At no point did Meghan and Harry claim that the backyard wedding was their super-duper official and legal wedding. Within the context of the larger story they were telling, they were describing how much attention their wedding was getting and they just wanted to do something for themselves. God help us all. “I can’t believe Meghan would LIE about having an official legal wedding, you guys, she was probably lying about how racist we are too!”

With all of this unhinged attention to the “pre-wedding” vow exchange story, the Sussexes’ spokesperson has now confirmed: “The couple exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.